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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #72945
Title: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEEDLING CROWN NODE PLACEMENT AND MATURE PLANT CHARACTERISTICS IN SWITCHGRASS

Author
item ELBERSEN, H - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STN
item VAN ESBROECK, G - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STN
item HUSSEY, E - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STN
item OCUMPAUGH, W - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STN
item SANDERSON, M - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STN
item Tischler, Charles

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Establishment of grasses with panicoid seedling morphology is often reduced by excessive crown node elevation. Switchgrass has been selected for low (LC) and elevated (EC) crown node placement. The LC germplasm is expected to have better establishment than EC because of a deeper placement of the crown node from which secondary roots originate. Low crown and EC genotypes differ in light requirement for deetiolation. Two greenhouse and a field experiment were conducted to determine if selection for crown node placement altered other light- regulated plant responses (i.e., tillering, flowering, etc.). Low crown plants had more tillers at the beginning of all three experiments, while unselected plants had the least tillers. In the greenhouse experiments, conducted in the winter under 14 hr photoperiods, 34% of EC plants flowered while a significantly higher number of LC (88%) and unselected (71%) plants flowered. Dry weight of LC was 18.2 g plant**-1 which was significantly higher than for EC (11.4 g) and unselected (10.8 g) plants. Results from the summer greenhouse and field experiments will be presented.